change from its previous practice of issuing big
fines for past antitrust violations.
Google declined to comment on the EU rules.
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Amazon didn’t
respond to requests for comment.
EU lawmakers are set to vote Tuesday and
Wednesday on the draft Digital Markets Act,
which includes giving the European Commission,
the EU’s executive branch, the power to halt “killer
acquisitions” — when tech companies buy up
innovative startups to block future competition.
There are also tighter restrictions on targeted
online ads and stronger requirements for
different messaging services or social media
platforms to be able to work with each other
— an effort to avoid the domination of a few
companies because they have already established
big networks of users.
The Digital Markets Act’s criteria for defining
a gatekeeper have been tweaked to include
companies earning at least 8 billion euros ($9
billion) in annual revenue in Europe, have a
market value of 80 billion euros, provide services
in at least three EU countries, and have 45 million
users and 10,000 business users.
Violations could be punished with whopping
fines: up to 6% of a company’s annual income
under the Digital Services Act and up to 20%
under the Digital Markets Act, which could work
out to billions of dollars for wealthy Silicon
Valley companies.